


Encounters

by Doodette



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Friends to Lovers, My First AO3 Post
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8504521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodette/pseuds/Doodette
Summary: An extremely awkward girl and an arrogant guy don't really seem like a perfect fit for each other right? Basically how Clary meets Jace for the first time in a library. Summary sucks but please do give it a try.





	1. Chapter 1

She loved books, she really did. She’s read all sorts of books; however, she loved fantasy books most of all. Which is why she stood for 10 minutes glaring at her favorite book at the top of the shelf. This day was supposed to be perfect. The library was almost empty; her favorite spot by the window was open allowing the soft streams of sunset to filter in. The cute librarian even let her sneak in some coffee. Except now the universe suddenly decided she couldn’t have a perfect day and seemed to mock her pitiful height. Her cursed midget self.

 

She swore inside her head, cursing every growth gene that decided to have a day off when she was supposed to be getting growth spurts. She narrowed her eyes at the book and tried to move it through sheer will. Sadly magical powers were not real and even if they were she was sure she’d have crappy super powers like being able to telepathically control a remote control or something and slumped her shoulders in defeat with a sigh.

.

“Wow, for a minute there I thought you’d actually manage to burn a hole through those books or set them on fire or something.” An amused deep voice suddenly said.

 

She whirled around in shock to find the source of that voice and almost tripped over her own feet in doing so. She managed to catch herself at the last second by throwing her hand out and grabbing the nearest shelf. Once she was sure she wouldn’t make a fool out of herself, she looked up and found herself staring at big bold words that said “Go back to sleep, today has been cancelled.” She then realized she was staring at someone’s chest, someone’s _very nice_ chest and moved her gaze upwards to land on a man’s face.

 

For a minute there she was sure she stopped breathing. If his chest was nice, his face was something else entirely. Peculiar golden eyes framed by long lashes, tanned face with high cheekbones, red lips, all wrapped up with strong jaws that should definitely be illegal. _Again_ she realized she was staring and also realized the man was staring at her with an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow.

 

“If you’re quite done checking me out and being adorable, might I say, would you mind telling me _why_ you were trying to use the force a while ago.”

 

_Adorable!? I am most certainly NOT adorable, at all. I’m a ferocious fire breathing dragon! Oh well, it comes with the height I guess._

 

She scowled and flushed a deep red when she noticed he was trying to hold back a laugh. _Oh great, he thinks I’m a nerdy idiot now._ “Icntrhtebk” she mumbled quietly. _Wow brain, just wow, you had one job! One job and you can’t even do it._

 

“Hmm? . .What’s that? I couldn’t quite catch that.” He was full on smiling now. His eyes crinkling around the edges and he leaned down closer to her.

 

_Curse you universe for letting me make a fool of myself! Curse you!_

 

She took a deep breath, looked up at him through her lashes and said “I can’t reach the book on the top shelf.” _There brain, now that wasn’t so bad was it_

 

“All right, that’s no biggie, tell me the title and I’ll get it for you.” He said

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment and mumbled “ _The hobbit_ , over there beside _The Green Mile_ ” while pointing at said book.

 

He looked towards where she was pointing and plucked out the book like it was no big deal and handed it to her.

 

_Why did he have to be such a giant, a tall and very climbable giant._

 

She flushed at her own thoughts and ducked her head so he wouldn’t see.

 

“Thank you.” She mumbled

 

“You are most welcome.” He replied, that stupid smile still stuck on his face.

 

_Stop smiling!_

 

“Sooo yeah, thanks, um I’ll be going now, waaay over there, so yeah. Um Bye.”  She cringed at her own awkwardness. _Can I just sink through a hole, like right now? Please?_

 

“Okay then, bye.” He said while trying to hold back a laugh.

 

She couldn’t leave fast enough.

 

Once she was safely seated on her favorite spot by the window, she took a deep breath and tried to forget whatever just happened. She had her book now, nothing else mattered. She smiled and started reading, basking in the glow of the sunset while enjoying her steaming cup of coffee.

 

She was about five pages through her book when a shadow suddenly loomed over her and casually sat down across from her like it was the most normal thing in the world. She peered over her book to look at the stranger and met liquid pools of gold staring right back at her.

She groaned unceremoniously and put her book down.

 

“Look, not to be rude or anything, but why are you here? Don’t you have somebody else to annoy?” She grumbled while making shooing motions with her hands.

 

He raised his eyebrows and said “Oh? Is that how you show your gratitude to everyone?” That infuriating smile still plastered on his perfectly perfect face.

 

She looked up at the ceiling and mentally cursed _Why world? Why? Just why must this happen to me?_

 

“My face isn’t on the ceiling you know. It’s right across from you, and while my view isn’t actually so bad at all I would prefer it if you _actually_ looked at me as well.”

 

She closed her eyes and mentally counted to three before facing the man across her again.

 

“What do you want?” She tried again.

“Why I want nothing,” adapting an innocent expression as he spoke “only your name,” He said.

 

She raised her eyebrows and tried to stop her lips from twitching upwards. _What a weird guy._

 

“It’s Clary. . .Yours?” She said, finally allowing herself a tiny smile.

 

“Jace.” He replied. “So you _do_ smile. You should do it more often.”

 

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Anything else?” She asked him.

 

He looked at her quietly as if he was contemplating something. “Yes actually, as payment for my gallant services, I’d like you to accompany me on a date.”

 

She blinked at him for a few moments and her jaw literally dropped. She recovered in less than a second and sputtered “Y-You, want to go on a date? With me?” Her voice getting higher and higher as she spoke.

 

He laughed out loud, head thrown back with his eyes crinkling even more at the corners. She couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful sound, and a beautiful sight as well.

 

_Why did he have to be so ridiculously damn perfect._

 

“Yes, I really, _really_ do.” He finally said.

 

She momentarily flat lined and said no, she couldn’t possible go on a date with him. She didn’t even know him. Yes he _was_ gorgeous, but she herself would feel like an ugly duckling next to him. Again, no, she couldn’t possibly ever consider going out with a guy like him. It was a very tempting and gracious offer, but no, just no. However, she realized she hadn’t actually said any of those words out loud.

 

Instead, what came out of her mouth was “Okay then.”

 

She’d willingly bash her head repeatedly against the table while mumbling _stupid, stupid, stupid_ until her brain turned to jelly and she herself died of mortification if it weren’t for the genuinely surprised and pleased expression on Jace’s face.

 

_Oh well, might as well give it a try_

 

He beamed at her and slipped a piece of paper towards her as he was standing up.

 

“My number, you know, so you can actually have a means of contacting me.” He said, noticing her confused expression.

 

He started to walk away but then turned around again.

 

“Just don’t forget to call me yeah? I’d be really disappointed if you don’t.”

 

And with that, he winked at her and left.

 

Only after a few minutes of her still clutching the tiny slip of paper and staring into space did she mumble “okay” even though she knew he was no longer there.

 

She pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming and looked at the numbers scrawled on the paper.

 

_This is a bad idea, a very very bad idea._

 

Even though she knew it was, she still decided that when she got home, the first thing she would do was to call him.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

That night she when she did get home, she decided that he was too much of a prat for her to involve herself with and threw the slip of paper into her garbage bin. She nodded to herself, convinced that she had made the right decision and left her bedroom to watch TV.

 A few hours later while she was getting ready for bed, she passed by the bin and the slip of paper caught her eye again. After a few moments of hesitation, she picked up the paper and put it on her nightstand only to hastily crumple it and attempt to throw it in the bin once more.

_I don’t have time for arrogant hot guys-wait did I say hot? Let me rephrase that, I don’t have time for arrogant ho-damn! Brain, work with me  will you!?_

The paper sailed through the air and landed on the floor at least two feet from the garbage bin.

_What the-_

Her left eye twitched and she marched towards the crumpled paper, glared at it, picked it up and forcefully threw it into the bin with a triumphant smirk.

She watched in slow motion as the paper hit the bottom, bounced, and landed to her far right. She turned her head slowly to look at the source of her torment, every nerve in her face twitching in silent rage.  As soon as her eyes landed on the cursed object she pulled at her hair and let out a savage war cry.

_Oh is that how you wanna play huh!? Bring it on! I’m not gonna lose to a measly slip of paper!_

And so the remainder of her night passed with her furiously trying and failing to get rid of the slip of paper. At one point she even opened the window to throw out the offending item only to have the wind slap it back onto her face rendering her speechless, furious and amazed at the same time.

Panting and lying on her bedroom floor, she once again thought about how the universe must be out to get her and turned her head slowly to glare at the crumpled piece of paper lying beside her.

It was almost as if the cursed object was mocking her saying “ _Come on, just call him. You know you want to, call him and I’ll get out of your hair. Caaaaaall hiiiim.”_

_Okay that’s it. I’m officially crazy. Yup, I’ve really totally lost it. I’m having mental conversations with a freaking crumpled paper, PAPER!_

She groaned out loud like a dying walrus and picked up the cursed object and tried to smooth it up while still lying on the floor. She groped around for her phone lying at the edge of her bed and mentally braced herself for what she was about to do.

Muttering a silent prayer to the gods above, she dialed the number and shakily pressed the call icon.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as her trembling hand pressed her phone to her ear. At the first sound of ringing she wrenched her phone away from her ear, stopped the call and threw her phone to her bed.

_Come on! Don’t be ridiculous, it’s just a phone call. He did say to call him right? That he’d be disappointed if I didn’t?_

_Screw this! Why is it so hard!?_

She sat up and looked for her phone again.

_Okay! Okay, I can do this!_

She called the number once more and this time it managed to ring twice before she hastily ended the call.

_Curse her pea sized self-confidence!_

She stared at her phone one more time, her finger hovering on the call icon.

_I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, NOPE  I can’t, crap I’m going to die, I’m going crazy, WAIT, I CAN DO THIS_

“I CAN DO THIS! AAHHHH-“ she suddenly screamed out loud as her phone started vibrating in her hand and dropped it onto the floor.

Her heart seemingly stopped beating for a few seconds as her brain registered that someone was calling her.

She picked up the phone and turned it slowly, dreading to see whose name would appear on her screen.

As soon as she saw it was Jace, she threw the phone on her bed and slammed her fist into her mouth while keening like a kicked puppy.

Her phone stopped ringing eventually and she breathed out a long sigh of relief only for it to be cut short when it started ringing again.

Breathe in

_I can do this_

Breathe out

_It’s just one guy_

Breathe in

_A very_ very _hot guy_

She choked on her spit. _Geez! You’re not helping brain!_

She let out another sigh and accepted the fact that it was now or never.

For the third time that night, she picked up her phone, stared at the name flashing on the screen and quickly accepted the call while she had the courage.

She slowly pressed the phone onto her ear and waited for the other person to speak up.

“Hello?” He said.

_Okay, okay, deep breaths, this is it. What is this a job interview!?_

“Um, hi.” She said.

“May I ask who’s speaking?” He replied with his smooth velvety voice.

_Must he be so perfect in everything!?_ She mentally complained.

“Um, i-it’s Clary, you know, the um-the girl from the library?” She cringed at how awkward she sounded and prayed for a bolt of lightning to hit her right at that moment.

“Hi Clary! Are you okay? Your voice sounds a little shaky.” He sounded waaay too happy about that.

_Eep! So he noticed that huh?_

“Oh, there must be a problem with the reception.” She forced her voice to be steady and prayed that he would accept her lame excuse and move on.

“Uhuh, right, the reception,” he chuckled quietly “and here I thought it was because of my glorious self.”

She could practically see him smirking; eyes lit up and crinkled at the corners. She turned beet red at that mental image and sputtered “What? No! It’s not-you’re not. Ugh stop it!” Her voice was unnaturally high.

_Huh who knew I could reach those notes._

His laughter echoed in her ears as she struggled to compose herself.

“You’re blushing aren’t you?” He said

Her silence said as much and he started laughing again.

 “Jerk” she muttered.

“Hey, I’m sorry okay? I can’t help it.” He said while stifling his bouts of laughter. “Anyway, about that date, when are you free?”

“Date? What date?” _Yeah right, like he’ll believe you don’t remember._

He scoffed. “You know, the date you _owe_ me?”

“Oh _that_ date, um, free? Maybe this Friday? Yes this Friday I’m free.” She hit herself in the head while holding back a groan at her painfully awkward self.

“Are you sure? You don’t sound so sure.” He said.

“Yes! I’m sure.” She immediately replied. _I hope I don’t sound too eager . . . or weird. Crap! I sound weird, and awkward and ohmygoshcanIjustdisappearrighthererightnow._

Weirdly enough, Jace doesn’t seem deterred or turned off. In fact, he sounded eager, maybe a bit _too_ eager.

“Great! I’ll pick you up on Friday around six, would that be okay?” He said

She mentally counted to three before she replied just so she would sound like a normal human being.

“Yes.” _There! Nothing says casual and normal like single worded replies._ She mentally high fived herself.

“Perfect! And Clary?” He said. She furrowed her brows at his reply

“What?” She replied

“You’re adorable when you blush.”

Silence . . . more silence. Suddenly “You’re totally blushing again aren’t you?” Jace said while chuckling.

“Shut up!” She practically screamed into the phone and ended the call, his loud laughter still ringing through her ears.

And true enough, she was blushing. _No I’m not._

And no, she definitely did not mark the date on the calendar with a big black circle so she wouldn’t forget. She definitely _did not_ stick multiple post-it notes on her fridge, on her desk, basically every surface she could post it on. Nope, she most certainly _did not_ do any of those.

She _did not_ look forward to seeing him at all. _Yes I am._  

* * *

 

Jace didn’t regret teasing her, he really didn’t. Okay maybe he did a little, but only because he didn’t get to say goodbye to her properly. However, if anyone pointed out that he’d suddenly smile stupidly while staring into space at random moments every day since, he would vehemently deny it to his grave. Jace Wayland _does not_ smile stupidly like a love sick teenager, _ever_. Well that was true until an endearingly neurotic and awkward redhead entered his life and turned his life upside down.

One date turned into two, which eventually turned into three, which eventually ended up in them moving in with each other, which then ended up with them getting married.  

If Clary literally ran away from Jace on their first date after slipping on a wet pavement and landing flat on her face, she would never admit it. If Jace, threw up on Alec after having a panic attack before proposing to Clary, he would never admit it. If they both fell in love the moment they saw each other, they would never admit it.

Yes, they’re both idiots. However, there is one thing they _will_ admit, and it is that they truly, deeply, love each other. It doesn’t matter if she’s awkward or if he’s arrogant, all that matters is that they complete each other.

                                                                                                _Fin_


	2. Jace POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace's POV on how they met at the library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so here's Jace's POV. I hope you like it :)

"Jace!" Will called out to him as he was closing the door of their apartment, and Jace poked his head back inside to look at him.

"What?" Jace said.

"You're going out right? Mind returning this book for me?" Will said and threw the book at him. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to grab it and was able to avoid getting hit in the face.

"Watch it! Just because I got the best genes doesn't mean you get to bash this perfection out of jealousy." He quipped.

Will rolled his eyes, scoffed and turned around to do whatever he was doing.

Jace examined the book and his eyebrows shot up to his hair.

" _A Tale of Two Cities!_? Really Will?" He shouted so Will could hear him and chuckled to himself.

"OUT!" was all he got in reply.

He was still chuckling while walking down the stairs. He and his brother had been living together for two years now, and he couldn't say he really minded. Except for the moments when they could barely stand each other, they actually got along pretty well.

He glanced at the book in his hand once more and wondered why on earth Will would even willingly open the book.  _Huh, it must be for a girl_

He smirked at his realization and resolved to pester his older brother for answers once he got home.

He chose to walk going to the library since it was only 10 minutes away from their apartment anyway, and it never hurt to get a little exercise. Plus, it was nice to soak in the last rays of the sun as it set.

Soon enough, the building loomed before him and he jogged up the stairs to enter the library.

He walked up to the librarian's desk and slammed the book down startling the guy who almost fell out of his chair in shock.

"Hey Alec!" Jace greeted him.

"Jace! Geez! Did you have to do that?" Alec grumbled in reply.

Jace chuckled and said "Sorry. Anyway Will wanted me to return this book, so here I am."

"Whatever, go put it back yourself. It's on the third aisle, right side, top shelf." Alec replied and returned to the book he was reading.

"Come on Alec, is that how you're supposed to treat your best friend? You know, the one who actually managed to set you up with your amazing sparkly boyfriend?" Jace said and smirked.

"Yep." Was all Alec said and calmly turned to the next page of whatever it was that he was reading.

Jace blinked at him, groaned, picked up the book and set off to put it back on its shelf.

As soon as he reached the aisle that Alec indicated, he spotted a tiny redhead glaring daggers at something on the top shelf.

He stopped dead on his tracks and stared at the girl. He reached up to put the book back on its shelf and proceeded to watch the girl for a few moments, an amused smile forming on his lips.

He examined the girl's face; wide green eyes framed by thick long lashes, soft red lips formed into a thin line framed by wild flaming red hair.

He noticed her give up and slump her shoulders at whatever it was she was trying to do and decided it was time for him to speak up.

"Wow, for a minute there I thought you'd actually manage to burn a hole through those books or set them on fire or something." Jace said.

He watched as the girl whirled around in shock and his smile grew when he noticed her checking him out slowly until her eyes eventually reached his face.

"If you're quite done checking me out and being adorable, might I say, would you mind telling me  _why_  you were trying to use the force a while ago?"

The girl flushed in embarrassment, and this made him smile even wider. He spent a few more moments teasing the girl before finally helping her get the book she wanted.

After a few moments of silence, the girl spoke again "Sooo yeah, thanks, um I'll be going now, waaay over there, so yeah. Um… bye." She then turned around quickly and walked as fast as she could back to her seat.

His eyes followed her as he chuckled silently. He walked back out of the aisle and looked for the girl again before walking up to Alec once more.

"Sooo… who's the redhead?" Jace asked.

Alec didn't bother looking up from his book as he answered "Don't bother Jace, she's not your type."

Jace put his hands on his chest in mock offense. "You wound me Alec, since when is a girl  _not_  my type?"

This time Alec actually closed his book and looked at him, twiddling his fingers on his chin and pretending to think deeply. "Let's see, your ex-girlfriend was blonde, tall, and had big boobs. Your girlfriend before that was tall and had big boobs. The other one before that was what? Oh right, she had big boobs, and she was tall." Alec gave him a long look before opening his book again and proceeding to ignore Jace.

Jace was speechless for once. Blinking at Alec and trying to think of a smart retort. When he could think of none, he groaned and said "Fiiine, I get it, I get it. This time though, I'm really interested."

Alec blew a raspberry "Suit yourself. If you want to get to know her, I suggest you go up there and I don't know, maybe  _talk_  to her?" He said with obvious sarcasm.

"You're no help at all you are." Jace narrowed his eyes at him before walking away towards Clary.

He found her sitting by the window, the setting sun forming a halo around her beautiful red hair making her look even more angelic.

He took a deep breath before walking up to her and plopping down on the empty chair in front of her.

She peered over her book to look at him and his eyes met hers directly. He had to stop himself from taking a sharp intake of breath as those green eyes pierced his own. She groaned unceremoniously and put her book down.

"Look, not to be rude or anything, but why are you here? Don't you have somebody else to annoy?" She grumbled while making shooing motions with her hands.

_Interesting._

He raised his eyebrows and said "Oh? Is that how you show your gratitude to everyone?" His growing smile getting harder and harder to stop as he watched her drop her head back to stare at the ceiling in defeat.

"My face isn't on the ceiling you know. It's right across from you, and while my view isn't actually so bad at all I would prefer it if you  _actually_  looked at me as well." He waited for her to look back at him again and forced himself to stifle his uncontrollable smile.

She seemed to struggle with herself before replying "What do you want?"

_Well what do I want?_  He thought for a moment before giving her an answer.

"Why I want nothing," he adapted an innocent expression as he spoke "only your name," He said.

_Her name? Her name!? Way to be a dork. Wait, I do want to know her name._

She raised her eyebrows and tried to stop her lips from twitching upwards. This pleased him more than it should for reasons he did not know,  _yet_.

"It's Clary. . .Yours?" She said, finally allowing herself a tiny smile.

_Clary._ He savored the sound of her name in his head for a moment before he replied.

"Jace." He couldn't help but stare at her beautiful smile. It was so strange that such a simple expression could make him feel butterflies in his stomach.  _Butterflies!? Manly men do_ not _get butterflies in their stomachs._  This thought snapped him back into attention and he composed himself once more.

"So you  _do_ smile. You should do it more often."  _Wow, so smooth. What is happening to me!?_

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Anything else?" She asked him.

He looked at her quietly and contemplated something. "Yes actually, as payment for my gallant services, I'd like you to accompany me on a date." He mentally face palmed himself at sounding like an 80 year old Victorian man. He just prayed that she wouldn't think of him as a weird guy.

She blinked at him for a few moments and her jaw literally dropped. To her credit, she recovered in less than a second and sputtered "Y-You, want to go on a date? With me?" Her voice getting higher and higher as she spoke. He breathed an indiscernible sigh of relief at her reaction.

He laughed out loud. "Yes, I really,  _really_  do." He finally said, hoping that she would feel the sincerity in his voice.

Silence.

More silence.

"Clary? Are you okay? You're not gonna leave me hanging are you?" Jace asked her nervously, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"Okay then." She suddenly blurted out. A look of shock crossed her face, as if she couldn't believe that was what she just said.

Jace chose to ignore her expression as his face lit up with a jubilant smile. While she was distracted with her own internal battle, he took out a small slip of paper and scribbled his number quickly.

He beamed at her and slipped a piece of paper towards her as he was standing up.

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she stared at the paper. He grinned at her expression and decided to make it easier for her. "My number, you know, so you can actually have a means of contacting me." He said with a light teasing tone.

He started to walk away, but then turned around again as a thought crossed his mind.

"Just don't forget to call me yeah? I'd be really disappointed if you don't." He said honestly.

And with that, he winked at her and left.

As he walked past Alec, Jace heard him say "Good luck" before raising his hand in farewell without taking his eyes away from his book.  _What's so damn interesting about that book anyway?_

As soon as Jace left the building, he raised his fist in triumph and let out a loud whoop. A huge smile never leaving his face until he got back to his apartment. As soon as he opened the door his eyes scanned the room in search of his brother. When he couldn't find him, he barged into his brother's room, startling Will and making him turn his head turn towards the door so fast he got whiplash.

"What the heck Jace! Ow!" He complained while massaging the back of his neck. Without warning, Jace draped his arm on his brother's shoulders and enveloped him in a big hug. "I love you bro!" This alarmed Will even more as he tried to get away from his brother's iron grip. "Jace! Are you nuts!? Get off me! Get-off-of-me!" He wheezed while trying and failing to pry Jace's arms off of him before finally giving up and giving a pleading look to the heavens as if trying to ask for divine assistance.

Jace for his part, proceeded to smother his brother with his embrace, a dopey smile never leaving his face. "I think I'm in love bro." Will gave him a look of alarm and doubled his efforts to get away from his crazy brother, going so far as to push Jace's head away from him in disgust.


End file.
